Introduction to Networking

CT043-3-1
Wireless Networks

Topic & Structure of the lesson

Introduction to Wireless LANs

Bands of Operation
Bluetooth

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, YOU should be able to:
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of WLANs.
Explain the standards and implementation of IEEE802 networks.
Explain the various radio frequency spectrum and bands of
operation.
Describe the standards and architecture of Bluetooth
technology.
Describe the considerations and implications of implementing
Bluetooth technology.
Describe the security aspects and techniques for Bluetooth
technology.

Key Terms you must be able to use

If you have mastered this topic, you should be able to use the
following terms correctly in your assignments and exams:

WLANs

Design goals

802.11

MAC address

Frequency spectrum

Frequency bands

ISM bands

Unlicensed bands

Main Teaching Points

Introduction to Wireless LANs

Bands of Operation

Introduction to Wireless LANs

Introduction
The global goal of WLANs is to replace office cabling, to enable
connectionless access to the internet and to introduce a higher
flexibility for ad-hoc communication.
Some advantages of WLANs are:
Flexibility
Within radio coverage, nodes can communicate without further
restriction. Radio waves can penetrate walls, senders and
receivers can be placed anywhere.
Planning
Only wireless ad-hoc networks allow for communication without
previous planning, any wired network needs wiring plans.

Introduction to Wireless LANs

Design
Wireless networks allow for the design of small, independent
devices which can for example be put into a pocket. Cables not
only restrict users but also designers of small PDAs, notepads
etc.
Robustness
Wireless networks can survive disasters or users pulling a plug.
Networks requiring a wired infrastructure will usually break down
completely.
Cost
After providing wireless access to the infrastructure via an
access point for the first user, adding additional users to a
wireless network will not increase the cost.

Introduction to Wireless LANs

However, WLANs also have several disadvantages:

Quality of service
WLANs typically offer lower quality than their wired
counterparts. The main reasons for this are the lower bandwidth
due to limitations in radio transmission, higher error rates due to
interference, and higher delay/delay variation due to extensive
error correction and detection mechanisms.
Proprietary solutions
Due to slow standardization procedures, many companies have
come up with proprietary solutions offering standardized
functionality plus many enhanced features.
Restrictions
All wireless products have to comply with national regulations.
Several government and non-government institutions worldwide
regulate the operation and restrict frequencies to minimize
interference.

Introduction to Wireless LANs

Safety and security
Using radio waves for data transmission might interfere with high-tech
equipment in, e.g., hospitals. Special precautions have to be taken to
prevent safety hazards.
Many different, and sometime competing, design goals have to be taken into
account for WLANs to ensure their commercial success:
Global operation
WLAN products should sell in all countries so, national and
international frequency regulations have to be considered.
Low power
Devices communicating via a WLAN are typically also wireless devices
running on battery power. The LAN design should take this into account
and implement special power-saving modes and power management
savings.

Introduction to Wireless LANs

Protection of investment
A lot of money has already been invested into wired LANs. The WLANs
should protect this investment by being interoperable with the existing
networks.
Safety and security
Wireless LANs should be safe to operate, especially regarding low
radiation if used e.g., in hospitals. Users cannot keep safety distances to
antennas.
Transparency for application
Existing applications should continue to run over WLANs, the only
difference being higher delay and lower bandwidth.

Introduction to Wireless LANs

Overview of IEEE 802.11 Networks

A basic introduction is often necessary when studying networking

topics because the number of acronyms can be overwhelming

With 802.11 there is a host of additional background needed to

appreciate how 802.11 adapts traditional Ethernet technology to a
wireless world
Wireless network interface cards are assigned 48-bit MAC
addresses, and, for all practical purposes, they look like Ethernet
network interface cards
In fact, the MAC address assignment is done from the same
address pool so that 802.11 cards have unique addresses even
when deployed into a network with wired Ethernet stations
To outside network devices, these MAC addresses appear to be
fixed, just as in other IEEE 802 networks

Introduction to Wireless LANs

802.11 MAC addresses go into ARP tables alongside Ethernet

addresses, use the same set of vendor prefixes, and are otherwise
indistinguishable from Ethernet addresses
The devices that comprise an 802.11 network (access points and
other 802.11 devices) know better
There are many differences between an 802.11 device and an
Ethernet device, but the most obvious is that 802.11 devices are
mobile ; they can easily move from one part of the network to
another
The 802.11 devices on your network understand this and deliver
frames to the current location of the mobile station

Bands of Operation

Radio Frequency Spectrum

Wireless devices are constrained to operate in a certain frequency
band
Each band has an associated bandwidth, which is simply the
amount of frequency space in the band
Bandwidth has acquired a connotation of being a measure of the
data capacity of a link

A great deal of mathematics, information theory, and signal

processing can be used to show that higher-bandwidth slices
can be used to transmit more information
As an example, an analog mobile telephony channel
requires a 20-kHz bandwidth. TV signals are vastly more
complex and have a correspondingly larger bandwidth of 6
MHz

Bands of Operation

Radio spectrum allocation is rigorously controlled by regulatory

authorities through licensing processes
Most countries have their own regulatory bodies, though regional
regulators do exist. In the U.S., regulation is done by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
Many FCC rules are adopted by other countries throughout the
Americas. European allocation is performed by the European Radio
communications Office (ERO)
Other allocation work is done by the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU)
To prevent overlapping uses of the radio waves, frequency is
allocated in bands, which are simply ranges of frequencies available
to specified applications

Bands of Operation

The following lists some common frequency bands used in the

U.S.:
Band

Frequency range

UHF ISM

902-928 MHz

S-Band

2-4 GHz

S-Band ISM

2.4-2.5 GHz

C-Band

4-8 GHz

C-Band satellite downlink

3.7-4.2 GHz

C-Band Radar (weather)

5.25-5.925 GHz

C-Band ISM

5.725-5.875 GHz

C-Band satellite uplink

5.925-6.425 GHz

X-Band

8-12 GHz

X-Band Radar (police/weather)

8.5-10.55 GHz

Ku-Band

12-18 GHz

Ku-Band Radar (police)

13.4-14 GHz 15.7-17.7 GHz

Bands of Operation

The ISM bands

There are three bands labeled ISM, which is an abbreviation

for industrial, scientific, and medical

ISM bands are set aside for equipment that, broadly
speaking, is related to industrial or scientific processes or is
used by medical equipment
Perhaps the most familiar ISM-band device is the microwave
oven, which operates in the 2.4-GHz ISM band because
electromagnetic radiation at that frequency is particularly
effective for heating water
802.11 operates in the ISM bands, along with many other
devices
Common cordless phones operate in the ISM bands as well

Bands of Operation

Other unlicensed bands

Additional spectrum is available in the 5 GHz range

The United States was the first country to allow
unlicensed device use in the 5 GHz range, though both
Japan and Europe followed
There is a large swath of spectrum available in various
countries around the world:
4.92-4.98 GHz (Japan)
5.04-5.08 GHz (Japan)
5.15-5.25 GHz (United States, Japan)
5.25-5.35 GHz (United States)
5.47-5.725 GHz (United States, Europe)
5.725-5.825 GHz (United States)

Bluetooth

Introduction

Compared to the WLAN technologies, the Bluetooth

technology discussed here aims at so-called ad-hoc
piconets, which are local area networks with a very
limited coverage and without the need for an
infrastructure

This is a different type of network needed to connect

different small devices in close proximity (about 10 m)
without expensive wiring or the need for a wireless
infrastructure

The Swedish IT-company Ericsson initiated some studies

in 1994 and renamed to Bluetooth because of the liking
for a Viking called Harald Gormsen (i.e., the King of
Denmark)

Bluetooth

In 1998, five companies (Ericsson, Intel, IBM, Nokia,

Toshiba) founded the Bluetooth consortium with the
goal of developing a single-chip, low-cost, radiobased wireless network technology

In 2001, the first products hit the mass market, and

many mobile phones, laptops, PDAs, video camera
etc. are equipped with Bluetooth technology

At the same time wireless personal area network

(WPAN) was initiated by IEEE 802.11 and addressed
the following criteria:

Market potential: How many applications,

devices, vendors, customers are available for
certain technology?

Bluetooth

Compatibility : Compatibility with IEEE 802

Distinct identity: The study group did not want

to establish a second 802.11 standard. However,
topics such as, low cost, low power, or small form
factor are not addressed in the 802.11 standard

Technical feasibility: Prototypes are necessary

for further discussion, so the study group would
not rely on paper work

Economic feasibility: Everything developed

within this group should be cheaper than other
solutions and allow for high-volume production

User scenarios

Different applications of piconets or WPANs:

Bluetooth

Connection of peripheral devices: Today, most

devices are connected to a desktop computer via
wires (e.g. keyboard, mouse, etc.). This type of
connection has several disadvantages: each
device has its own type of cable, different plugs
are needed, wires block office space

Support of ad-hoc networking: Students might

join a lecture, with the teacher distributing data to
their personal digital assistants (PDAs). Wireless
networks can support this type of interaction;
small devices might not have WLAN adapters
following the 802.11, but cheaper Bluetooth chips
built in

Bluetooth

Bridging of networks: Using wireless piconets,

a mobile phone can be connected to a PDA or
laptop in a simple way. Mobile phones will not
have full WLAN adapters built in, but could have
a Bluetooth chip. The mobile phone can then act
as a bridge between the local piconet and e.g.,
the global GSM network

Architecture

Like IEEE 802.11b, Bluetooth operates in the 2.4

GHz ISM band with 1 MHz carrier spacing.
However, MAC, physical layer and the offered
services are completely different

Each device performs frequency hopping with

1,600 hop/s in a pseudo random fashion

Bluetooth

Security

Bleutooth offers mechanisms for authentication and

encryption on the MAC layer, which must be
implemented in the same way within each device

The main security features offered by Bluetooth

include a challenge-response routine for
authentication, a stream cipher for encryption, and a
session key generation

Each connection may require a one-way, two-way, or

no authentication using the challenge-response routine

Bluetooth

The following diagram shows several steps in the

security architecture of Bluetooth:

PIN (1 16 byte)

User input
(initialization)
Pairing

E2
Link key (128 bit)

E2
Authentication

E3
Encryption key (128 bit)

Encryption key generation

Encryption

Keystream generator
Payload key
Data

PIN (1 16 byte)

Link key (128 bit)

E3
Encryption key (128 bit)
Keystream generator

Cipher data
Ciphering

Payload key
Data

Bluetooth

Pairing: To set up trust between the two devices a user

can enter a secret PIN into both devices. This PIN can
have a length of up to 16 byte

Authentication: Is a challenge-response process based

on the link key, a random number generated by a
verifier, and the device address of the claimant (the
device that is authenticated)

Encryption: Based on the encryption key (with a

maximum size of 128 bits and can be individually
generated), the device address and the current clock,
a payload key is generated for ciphering user data

Ciphering: The payload key is a stream of pseudorandom bits. The ciphering process is a simple XOR of
the user data and the payload key

Cellular telephone networks

The objective of personal communication systems (PCS) or

personal communication networks (PCN) is:

to provide ubiquitous wireless communications coverage,

enabling users to access the telephone network,

enabling users to access the Internet for different

communication needs.

Anywhere and anytime regardless of user and information

location

The mobile and fixed networks will be integrated to provide

universal access to the network and its databases

A large amount of signaling will be required for efficient working

of these networks

 Cellular infrastructure why ??

Cells with different frequencies allow devices
to move between these cells
The device just informing what frequency they are
communicating at

Cellular communications can only travel a

certain distance
Cell sizes are flexible
Examples in the TUK TACS system were up to 50 Miles!

Components of cellular network architecture

MSC

cell

covers geographical

region
base station (BS)
analogous to 802.11
AP
mobile users attach
to network through
BS
air-interface: physical
and link layer protocol
between mobile and
BS

connects cells to wide area net

manages call setup (more later!)
handles mobility (more later!)
Mobile
Switching
Center

Public telephone
network, and
Internet

Mobile
Switching
Center

wired network

Single Cell Multiple Access

Components of cellular network architecture

correspondent
wired public
telephone
network
MSC

MSC
MSC
MSC

different cellular networks,

operated by different providers

MSC

Principles of cellular network

Cellular radio is a technique that was developed to increase the capacity
available for mobile radio telephone service
Each cell is allocated a band of frequencies and is served by the base
station, consisting of transmitter, receiver and control unit.
Each cell has a base transceiver. The transmission power is carefully
controlled to allow communication within the cell using a given frequency
while limiting the power at that frequency that escapes the cell
into adjacent ones.
The objective is to use the same frequency
in other near by cells, thus allowing the
frequency to be used for multiple
simultaneous conversations.

Cellular Architecture
Allows the area to be broken into smaller cells
The mobile device then connects to the
closest cell
Cell
Cell
Cell
Cell

Cell
Cell

Cell
Cell

Cell
Cell

Cell
Cell

Cell
Cell

Cell

Cell

Cellular Architecture continued

Cellular architecture requires the available frequency to be
distributed between the cells
If 2 cells next to each other used the same frequency each
would interfere with each other

Frequency 900MHz
Cell
Cell

Cell
Cell

Cell

Cellular Architecture continued

There must be a distance between adjoining cells
This distance allows communications to take place

MHz
Cell

Frequency 900

Cell

Frequency 920

Cell

Frequency 940

Cell

Frequency 960

Cell
Cell

Cell
Cell

Cellular Architecture continued

This is referred to as the Minimum Frequency Reuse Factor
This requires proper planning and can be an issue for all radio
based wireless communications
Planning the radio cell and how far a signal may go

Cell
Cell

Cell
Cell

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

It
is
a standardized exterior
gateway
protocol designed to exchange routing and
reachability
information
between autonomous
systems (AS) on the Internet.
Makes routing decisions based on paths, network
policies or rule-sets configured by a network
administrator, and is involved in making
core routing decisions.
It is the routing protocol that makes the Internet
work. Most Internet service providers (ISPs) must
use BGP to establish routing between one another.

 Most of the routers in the service provider core

networks have to exchange information about
several hundred thousand IP prefixes.
In many cases, there will be multiple routes to the
same destination. BGP therefore uses path
attributes to decide how to route traffic to specific
networks.
The routing table contains a list of known routers,
the addresses they can reach, and a
cost metric associated with the path to each router
so that the best available route is chosen.

 Hosts using BGP communicate using the

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and send
updated router table information only when one
host has detected a change.
it easy to use Classless Inter-Domain Routing
(CIDR), which is a way to have more addresses
within the network than with the current IP
address assignment scheme.

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)

It
is
a
mechanism
in
highperformance telecommunications
networks that
directs data from one network node to the next
based on short path labels rather than long network
addresses, avoiding complex lookups in a routing
table.
In an MPLS network, data packets are assigned
labels.
Packet-forwarding decisions are made solely on the
contents of this label, without the need to examine
the packet itself.

 MPLS operates at a layer that is generally

considered to lie between traditional definitions of
layer 2 (data link layer) and layer 3 (network layer),
and thus is often referred to as a "layer 2.5"
protocol.
MPLS allows most packets to be forwarded at Layer
2 (the switching level) rather than having to be
passed up to Layer 3 (the routing level).

Each packet gets labeled on entry

the service provider's network router.

into

 All the subsequent routing switches perform packet

forwarding based only on those labelsthey never
look as far as the IP header.
Finally, the ISPs router removes the label(s) and
forwards the original IP packet toward its final
destination.
The label determines which pre-determined path the
packet will follow.
The paths allow service providers to decide ahead
of time what will be the best way for certain types of
traffic to flow within a private or public network.

the Benefits of MPLS Networks

Improve Uptime - by sending data over an alternative path in less
than 50 milliseconds (if one exists). MPLS also reduces the amount
of manual intervention your ISP has to do to create a WAN, reducing
the likelihood of human error bringing down your circuit.
Improve User Experience - by prioritising time-sensitive traffic such
as VoIP. Multi-Protocol Label Switching offers multiple Classes of
Service, enabling you to apply separate settings to different types of
traffic.
Improve Bandwidth Utilisation - by putting multiple types of traffic
on the same link, you can let high priority traffic borrow capacity
from lower priority traffic streams whenever required. Conversely,
when the lower priority traffic needs to burst beyond its usual
amount of bandwidth, it can use any capacity that's not being used
by higher priority services.

 Hide Network Complexity - an MPLS connection between two

sites can be configured to act like a long Ethernet cable, with the
hops involved hidden from view. This is sometimes known
as VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Service).
Reduce Network Congestion - Sometimes the shortest path
between two locations isn't the best one to take, as congestion has
made it less attractive (at least for the time being). MPLS offers
sophisticated traffic engineering options that enable traffic to be sent
over non-standard paths. This can reduce latency (the delay in
sending/receiving data). It also reduces congestion on the paths that
have just been avoided as a result of traffic engineering.

Question and Answer Session

Q&A